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How do you write dates?

Date Format?

  • January 23, 2012

    Votes: 13 21.0%
  • 23 January, 2012

    Votes: 15 24.2%
  • January 23rd, 2012

    Votes: 3 4.8%
  • With Slashes: 01/23/12, 01/23/2012, 1/23/12

    Votes: 27 43.5%
  • With Hyphens: 01-23-12, 01-23-2012, 1-23-12

    Votes: 5 8.1%
  • Other (Specify)

    Votes: 15 24.2%

  • Total voters
    62
  • Poll closed .
The Day-Month-Year numeric format usually bugs the shit out of me and is quite confusing. :lol: Apparently, this format is more commonly used in other countries, but in the U.S., when you write "02/06/12," that usually means February 6, not June 2.

I believe the format MM-DD-YY is only used in a handful of countries including America. Whilst most others use DD-MM-YY. So I think It's more a case of America hasn't caught up with everyone else yet. Same goes for the Metric system. What bugs me about use of the 12hr clock system in written format you don't need the lead zero. 7:10PM is just fine.
 
Day month year, without any commas or slashes.

For example: 23 January 2012. This is a common format among (English-speaking) historians.

I, too, spell it out and prefer it that way. I often shorten it to use a three letter designation for the month: 23 JAN 2012. This format is what I tend to use for almost everything, except in situations where I am forced to use either DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY on someone else's forms.

In the U.S., MM/DD/YYYY seems most common, but when I was in grad school doing studies and research in biology it seemed to be most common to log dates such as 23 JAN 2012. This may be because science research data is being looked at all over the world and spelling things out makes the date clear for people on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, it only involves the use of a single additional character.
 
For me, it actually varies depending on who I'm addressing:
January 23, 2012 (formal letters)
1/23/2012 (informal letters)
1-23-2012 (when writing checks)
Stardate 0/1201.23 (to fellow Trekkies)
 
If I'm making notes for myself or if I'm doing informal correspondence with other people in the U.S., I do 1/23/12 or 1/23/2012. But at work, since we have offices across the world, I do 23 Jan 2012 or 23 January 2012 to eliminate confusion. By writing out the month, it's clear which order I'm working in.

I prefer the day month year format, but when I abbreviate, I leave it in the mm/dd/yy format because it's so ingrained that it would be confusing to switch at this point.
 
I find using dots in dates to be rather ostentatious--unless they're stardates.

It's simply the way you write ordinal forms of numbers in German (unless you type it out, which is more appropriate in formal writing). Like, if I said "I finished fourth in this race" the short form would be "I was 4.".
 
... What bugs me about use of the 12hr clock system in written format you don't need the lead zero. 7:10PM is just fine.

I am betting that someone that worked with J.J. Abrams on designing the U.S.S. Kelvin got up this morning at about 07:10AM!
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but I think we (humans) need to form a committee to decide on universal formats for these kinds of things. They will also be in charge of grammar and spelling.
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but I think we (humans) need to form a committee to decide on universal formats for these kinds of things. They will also be in charge of grammar and spelling.

We do it's known as ISO (International Organisation for Standards))
 
Depends on the use:

- Letters, Full Month Name Day, Full Year
- Forms and checks MM/DD/YY
- If used as part of file name, I was taught to do it "filenameYYYYMMDD_prt/vol/ver#"
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but I think we (humans) need to form a committee to decide on universal formats for these kinds of things.
We did. And we got the metric system and the SI. It's you guys who are lagging behing in your homeworks. :p

They will also be in charge of grammar and spelling.
I was unaware there was a human language. In any case, we have the Accademia della Crusca. Feel free to use their counsel at any time. :D
 
Depends on the context.

Casually or on a form: 1/23/12 or 1/23/2012
Formally: January 23, 2012
File names: 2012 01 23

I used to use 23 January 2012 a lot -- it makes so much more sense than American-style dates -- but it doesn't go over very well here, so I eventually gave up.
 
^Just remember the Americans do sometimes go for the date first then the month. i.e The Fourth of July.
 
01.23.2012

I was doing it this way long before it became trendy. My 8th grade English teacher insisted it was the ONLY proper way to write a date on a paper. It just became habit after that.
 
I choose 23 January, 2012 in the poll. I have never written it that way but it is the closest to the way I prefer.

I actually prefer to write it as

23 Jan 2012

No comma, and I tend to use only the first three letters of any month.

On forms I would write is as

23/01/2012 or 23/01/12 depending on the format of the form.

Before I used to internet I didn't even know that Americans but the month before the day.
 
I find using dots in dates to be rather ostentatious--unless they're stardates.
I tend to use dots when I save files at work, just because you can't use slashes, and I'm already using dashes for other things.

When I must use a date in a filename, it's something like this:

[filedescription]-[CCYYMMDD].[xxx]

That's so it will sort by date, like someone else said.

If I'm saving a file with the date included, I usually type in [Filename] [MM-DD-YY].xxx. For example:

Letter to AllState Insurance 01-23-12.doc

I use hyphens for the dates because apparently the forward slash doesn't work.

As for the time format, I was taught to use the 12-hour format with the suffix a.m. or p.m. (lower case with periods) in business and everyday writing, though I have used upper-case AM and PM as well. I hardly ever use the 24-hour standard (military time) except when writing fiction.

Example (1): The meeting will start at 10:30 a.m.
Example (2): Ensign Redshirt was declared dead at 18:30 Hours.
 
I know America refers to it as Military time, but I've never heard it referred to that way in the UK. But then again I suspect in countries where 24hr time is more common there is no need to differentiate it.
 
I know America refers to it as Military time, but I've never heard it referred to that way in the UK. But then again I suspect in countries where 24hr time is more common there is no need to differentiate it.
I live in America and don't call it "military time." I just call it "time."

I've found the whole idea that something with 24 units is measured with an instrument that has only 12 to be a bit silly.
 
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